Nordic ESG Forum: call to action post-COP27

Johanna Fager Wettergren is Head of Sustainable Finance at Finansinspektionen. In this capacity, she has taken an active role in the supervisory authority’s work on sustainable finance and stewardship. At the global level, she is actively involved in the work carried out by the Task Force on Sustainable Finance within the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), chaired by the Director General of the Swedish FSA. The Task Force addresses the urgent demand to improve sustainability reporting in a way that meets market needs, as well as other issues such as consumer protection.

She was previously Head of Department at the National Debt Office, responsible for Financial Stability and Consumer Protection.

She joined the Swedish Central Bank in 2006 and held, during a period of about 10 years, several different managerial positions within the field of Financial Stability and Asset Management.

Johanna started her career in Nordea Bank Market Department as an analyst.

Liza Jonson is the CEO of Swedbank Robur – one of Scandinavia’s largest mutual fund managers and one of the leading actors when it comes to sustainable and responsible investments. Liza has more than 20 years of experience from the financial industry, always focusing on innovation and sustainability, strongly believing and proofing by results that what’s long-term sustainable is also long term profitable.

Liza has been appointed “Bank profile of the year” (2021) and “CEO of the year” and has been ranked as one of the most influential women in business in Sweden. Since 2012, Liza has been a member of the board of the Fund Companies’ Association. In 2018 she was appointed as one of two business delegates in the Government’s Agenda 2030 delegation.

Liza is also part of the Stockholm Sustainable Finance Center’s advisory board, and a member of several national and international collaboration forums, i.e Climate Action 100+, Net Zero Asset Managers and Bloomberg Economic Forum.

Helle Herk-Hansen, Vice President Environment at Vattenfall. Helle has over 20 years of energy sector experience in different positions and with management responsibilities for more than 10+ years. She has been a part of and contributing to the ongoing transition of the energy system from fossil based to fossil free for example through defining Science based targets as well as nature net positive approach ambitions for Vattenfall. Helle is a board member in companies related to electricity sales and power as a service in Denmark and UK and have for many years acted as an advisor to associations, companies and governments.

Aurora Samuelsson* joined Handelsbanken Fonder in February 2022 as Engagement Lead and Senior ESG Analyst and in June 2022 Aurora was appointed as Head of Sustainability at Handelsbanken Fonder.

Aurora has a BA in European Studies with focus on Human Rights and Ethical studies and has worked with human rights and ESG risk assessments since 2003. In 2007 Aurora joined GES**, Global Engagement Services, as an ESG analyst. Over the years Aurora specialized in engagement dialogues and worked as a Senior Engagement Manager until 2018 when she joined Skandia Mutual Life Insurance as an Investment analyst with focus on ESG Engagement.

Like most ESG-specialists Aurora is a generalist within all E, S and G areas since they are all interlinked however, Aurora has worked intensely with human rights and labour rights and also compliance and ethics. The wholly grail that Aurora try to capture in her analysis and dialogues is a way to measure company culture, since company culture is the key to manage both risks and opportunities.

To balance all the ESG-challenges in her work life she likes to practice her hobby as an amateur DJ at every given opportunity. Dance and music are essential to restore energy to continue the important ESG analysis and engagement work.

** Acquired by Sustainalytics in 2019

Nina Ahlstrand is heading up the Sustainable Finance team in DNB Markets. The team provides ESG-related advisory services to clients across sectors and geographies, including green, social and sustainability-linked bonds and loans as well as contributes to the integration of ESG into products and services across the bank.

Magnus Billing, CEO of Alecta. Alecta provides agreed occupational pensions. Alecta’s assets under management amount to approximately appr USD 100 billion. Alecta is owned by approximately 2,6 million private customers and 35,000 corporate clients.

Magnus Billing was, prior to joining Alecta, CEO, NASDAQ Nordics and Baltic Markets. Within NASDAQ he previously held the position as Chief Legal Counsel and Senior Vice President of NASDAQ Group, Inc., and responsible for legal and market surveillance operations in Europe. Mr. Billing has been working in the financial industry since early 2001. Prior to the merger between NASDAQ and OMX AB (publ), Magnus Billing was the General Counsel of OMX and led the negotiations around the consolidation of the OMX Nordic Exchanges.

Magnus Billing was a member of the High Level Expert Group (HLEG) on sustainable finance that the EU Commission appointed and gave the task to come up with recommendations for how to create a sustainable EU financial market. HLEG produced its recommendations in the beginning of 2018 and it created the basis for the EU Commission’s Action Plan published during the Spring of 2018.

Magnus Billing is a member of the Board of Directors of Stockholm Environmental Institute. An international non-profit research and policy organization that tackles environment and development challenges. He is chairman of the Board of Directors for Stockholm Sustainable Finance Center (a center bridging academic research on sustainable finance to the financial markets and their stakeholders). Magnus Billing is furthermore director of the Board of Directors of the Swedish Council for Financial Reporting.

Mr. Christopher Flensborg joined SEB in 2003 and is Head of Climate & Sustainable Finance, mandated to identify areas where financial mandates can help solve societal challenges – and develop and implement solutions through collaboration with clients.

As a pioneer in Green Bonds, which was developed in close collaboration with The World Bank, he has developed concepts and mechanisms enabling mainstream investors to address climate investments in their portfolios. As a thought leader, SEB works to enable access for mainstream investor’s core portfolios to sustainable investments.

SEB´s goal is to be a prime provider of mainstream financial climate solutions across various financial mandates. In this capacity, Mr. Flensborg is involved in climate investment strategies worldwide, from development to execution – from borrowers to investors.

Mr. Flensborg spent over 30 years working in leading international financial institutions. He received his management training from international banks through schooling at Oxford, INSEAD, and Harvard Kennedy School.

Hilde Røed is Senior Vice President Climate & Sustainability at Equinor. She has long experience from working within climate and sustainability, including from DNB and the United Nations Development Programme. Hilde joined Equinor in 2012 and has been heading up work on climate strategy, risk and reporting – including implementing the TCFD Recommendations. Hilde holds a master’s degree in Society, Science and Technology from the University of Oslo.

Patricia Torres, Global Head, Sustainable Finance Solutions, Bloomberg. Patricia heads the business development team for Sustainable Finance Solutions at Bloomberg. Patricia has spent 19 years with Bloomberg in diverse roles ranging from sales, strategy, data management, to product development. Prior to that she started her career as a management consultant. Patricia graduated as an economist and has done various post-graduate courses, including corporate finance, enterprise selling, corporate governance and negotiation.

Cinzia Chiriac is Head of ESG Regulatory Affairs at Bloomberg, where she is responsible for leading the regulatory strategy for key sustainable finance policy initiatives impacting Bloomberg and its clients. She particularly focuses on taxonomy development (such as EU, UK, Singapore Taxonomy), implementation of disclosure initiatives including the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation, TCFD, and development of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) standards, as well as climate risk management. Cinzia is also a member of the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) Task Force on Sustainable Finance, and the Future of Sustainable Data Alliance (FoSDA) Policy Working Group.

She holds a Masters degree in International Affairs from Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, and a Bachelors degree in Political Science from the University of Delaware.

Jonas leads BNEF’s sustainability analysis, helping corporations and investors understand the technologies and solutions companies can employ to generate new sustainable opportunities and reduce their transition risk. This leverages BNEF’s research on transformational topics ranging from clean energy and electric mobility to digitalization and advanced materials, as well as building on Bloomberg’s close connection with the TCFD. Before this, Jonas lead BNEF’s research on the impact of the energy transition on the European power sector and what that means for utility and investor strategies, and was author of BNEF’s New Energy Outlook for Europe. Jonas previously worked in sustainable energy consulting and holds an MSc in sustainable energy from Imperial College London and an MEng from Cambridge University.

Nadia’s role is to inform Bloomberg’s sustainable finance business on ESG regulatory requirements for the financial industry in Europe and the UK. She also serves as a co-rapporteur on the European Commission’s Technical Expert Group for Sustainable Finance and a member of the Green Technical Advisory Group for HMT UK. Nadia also supported the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission’s Technical Expert Group for climate related product disclosure and sits on the International Regulatory Strategy Group’s ESG workstream.

Nadia was previously the Global Head of Entity Services, supporting regulatory product development for Bloomberg’s Entity Exchange platform. She is a keen advocate for Women in FinTech and sat on Bloomberg’s EMEA Diversity Council. Nadia is also an ICMA mentor and coach under the 10,000 small businesses initiative. Prior to Bloomberg, Nadia worked at both JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs, in a number of senior positions.

Nadia is on the advisory board of Blockchain & Climate Institute. She holds a Bachelors degree, with honours, in Business from Bath University, a Licentiate in Homeopathy and is a Fellow of the Victoria College of Drama.

Emma Coker leads BloombergNEF’s European Carbon Market research. This research provides differentiated market analysis, data and tools for carbon traders and analysts. Alongside strategic insights for key decision makers and investors on the future of carbon and the energy transition.

Irene leads the EMEA ESG Market Specialists team and has extensive knowledge across the various pillars of ESG and Sustainable Finance. She is a subject matter expert in ESG and sustainable debt data, ESG Regulations, Climate and new areas of focus for the market such as Biodiversity, and has a deep understanding of the needs of the financial markets participants in this space. Prior to joining Bloomberg, Irene was an Equity Research Analyst at UBS Investment Bank.

Mike Bloomberg is an entrepreneur and three-term mayor of New York City whose innovations in business, government, and philanthropy have made him a pioneering leader on critical issues facing America and the world. He has launched major coalitions to save and improve lives, including America’s largest campaigns to prevent gun violence and fight the climate crisis, and he has championed efforts to fix our immigration system.

Elected mayor just weeks after the attacks of September 11, 2001, Bloomberg led New York City’s resurgence. He spearheaded the rebuilding of Lower Manhattan, fought poverty with new programs that became national models, and turned around a failing school system. Bloomberg reduced carbon emissions by 13 percent, increased New Yorkers’ life expectancy by three years, and cut crime by a third while reducing incarceration by nearly 40 percent. Despite the national recession, he led the city to record job growth.

As mayor, Bloomberg launched a pandemic influenza plan for New York City, and led the city through outbreaks of the swine flu and West Nile virus. An international leader on public health issues, Bloomberg recently launched a series of efforts to help fight the coronavirus pandemic through his foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies. He’s supporting a fund for New York City-based non-profits impacted by the crisis, convening mayors to share information and strategies, committing $40 million to help low- and middle-income countries slow and prevent the spread of the disease, and more.

After his third term in City Hall, he resumed leadership of Bloomberg LP, the financial technology and media company he founded in 1981. Bloomberg LP now employs some 20,000 people. Bloomberg Philanthropies applies a unique, data-driven approach to drive progress in five focus areas – public health, government innovation, education, the environment, and the arts. He has given away $9.5 billion.

Bloomberg grew up in a middle-class home in Medford, Massachusetts. He took out government loans and worked his way through school, graduating from Johns Hopkins University and Harvard Business School. He is the father of two daughters, Emma and Georgina, and has two grandchildren.